How can I reuse or recycle … cooking oil?
Colleen Christensen has asked:
Is there anything one can do with rancid cooking oil?
(I don’t know how rancid she means by rancid but let’s assume she just means used and therefore slightly icky - say oil or lard from deep frying - rather than full on bleugh.)
I know that commercial fryers can recycle their old oil (for use as biodiesel) but what about domestic chefs who aren’t using anywhere near as much? And what about other uses?
(Photo by float)
One of the old blokes on our allotment site uses old veg oil for weather proofing exterior woodwork- fences and such.
This is great, look forward to looking into every area. Thanks for being there.
One of the old blokes on our allotment site uses old veg oil for weatherproofing exterior woodwork such as fences and sheds.
Small amounts can be added to a compost bin - mixed well with paper or cardboard. Also some Council operated civic amenity sites accept cooking oil (check if there is a receptacle available first)
You can use to make soap
http://teachers.net/lessons/posts/35.html
I love making left over oil soap! Food grade oils make such nice soap.
I read in a gardening book that you soak newspapers with used cooking oil. Then use it as a bottom layer before mulching. It froms a better barrier against weeds.
If she really does mean simply used and not truely rancid, she can strain it through cheese cloth and reuse it.
A diesel engine can be run on almost any type of oil
Not true I’m afraid, it clogs up the injectors in some Ford and Rover engines. Works best in Pug’ and Citroen turbos. Mix with at least, 2 parts diesel to 1 part oil. It does however lower emissions and gives a smoother running engine, but smells like a mobile chippie!
Don’t the Inland Revenue get a bit upset if you use oil that duty has not been paid on?
I have a feeling that people using fat from chip shops for diesel engines have to jump through all sorts of hoops to use it legally.
My mum uses her old chip pan oil (which goes solid at room temperatures) to make wild bird feeders.
She mixes old seeds and nuts into the fat then pours it into waste containers from the kitchen (like mushroom trays or ready meal dishes).
You can shave with olive oil, though I’d expect you’d want to use clean oil - maybe out of date stuff?
Charcoal grill. Loosely wad paper, add charcoal, pour outdated or used cooking oil over all then light. MUCH better than icky taste and smell of lighter fluid. (I made charcoal chimney out of 3 lb coffee can.)
Fireplace, same as above for charcoal.
You can clean the oil by placing it in a jar with equal parts water and oil.
Put it in the sun for 2 days and shake it whenever you think about it. The water will become cloudy with the impurities. Let it settle then pour off the oil. Repeat as many times as necessary.
If you only used it for vege cooking it’s on to use for cooking again. If it was used for meat then consider using it as an oil paint thiner, home made ingredient for soap or hand moisturizer.
Hi
make soap with some essential oil to disguise the fried smell.
esterize to produce biodiesel and glycerine. glycerine can then be mixed with unused oil to make soap (coconut oil is best) and biodiesel can be used neat in diesel engines. change the fuel filter after the first few tanks and make sure the engine has no rubber parts (if older than 1992).
above all - don’t reuse for cooking. once heated more than a couple of times the molecular bonds change creating trans fatty acids which stick to the inside of arteries and cause more problems than saturated fat.
cheers
from the dollar stretcher: http://www.stretcher.com
Stump Removal
To remove a stump for free, just pour any salty, oily cooking liquid onto the area you want removed. Bacon grease is especially effective. The small gnawing animals will come out and chew the wood to get the salt and oil. A large porcupine can chew up to three inches off a section all by himself. They are notorious for destroying wooden tool handles to get the salt left from sweat.
I am working on stump number three of six on my neighbor’s property. It has taken five years to destroy two large pine stumps and number three is about 50% gone. You cannot even see where the first one was, the second is hard to spot, and the third is going fast.
–hope this helps?
john b wrote:
January 24th, 2007 at 3:34 pm
“One of the old blokes on our allotment site uses old veg oil for weather proofing exterior woodwork- fences and such.”
So wouldn’t there be a risk the fences get eaten by critters too?
Use the Fat Trap to responsibly dispose of waste fat and grease from cooking!
http://www.lessmess.co.uk
for further information on fat, oil and grease disposal
If you use a lot of oil you could buy a Vito oil filter machine which cleans it and doubles its useable life.
Hello,
I’m in California and didn’t want to throw out my old cooking oil. Is there somewhere I can take it or will someone pick it up?
Thanks,
Mario
What about vegetable oil that’s actually rancid (really old, with rancid smell)? Can I pour that into the dirt so as to recycle the empty plastic bottle, or do I need to throw the full bottle away? Thank you.